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Residents from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuating their homes to escape flooding

Fears are growing among US residents living along the Mississippi River as rising flood waters threaten communities in states from Illinois to Louisiana.

Police officers went door-to-door in Memphis, Tennessee urging residents to leave nearly 1,000 homes near the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

Sections of the Mississippi Delta also began to flood early on Friday.

The rising waters have already broken records set in 1927 and 1937.

But levees put in place over the past several decades are expected to prevent flooding from being as devastating as it was roughly 80 years ago.

'Property in danger'

In Tennessee, where officials do not have the authority to order evacuations, emergency responders were said to be handing out flyers on Friday in both English and Spanish that read: "Evacuate!!! Your property is in danger right now."

The flyers included a phone number to arrange transportation to shelters throughout the region.

The director of emergency management in Shelby County, Bob Nations, said there was still time for residents to take precautionary measures.

"This does not mean that water is at your doorstep," Mr Nations said of the police effort.

"This means you are in a high-impact area," he added.

Here we are today and everything's fine - and tomorrow there could be all this waterLakeysha Stamps, Mississippi resident